Welcome to the deranged and cluttered mind of a storyteller. Listen to me rant about plots spinning out of control and characters who refuse to cooperate. Watch me grapple with myth and legend until they have turned me into their plaything. Hear me rave about the wonders I have met in the pages of a book as I try to grasp the words that made them and then . . . . tell me a story. I am listening.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Every story has as many versions as it has characters. I don't usually like to say much on here with too strong of political bent, but as you celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow I would like you to challenge the myth of the cozy pilgrims and "Indians" working together in harmony.

Some of them might have. I am sure there were friendships as well as violence because people are complex individuals and not the blanket societies we learn about in history books. But don't forget that the pilgrims were invaders. They may have been more peaceful than some of the other settles but they were still fighting a kind of war over the land. Some of the natives may have genuinely wished them well but just as many were afraid of them. And regardless of what the feelings were at the time, the supposed harmony of that harvest celebration we colored so many pictures of in the class room didn't last very long. We have the rest of history to prove that.

Myths have power. Most of them come from a grain of truth but they can control the way we think about things if we let them. I could never object to a holiday that celebrates food, family, and thankfulness (especially the food), but I don't think we should be unaware of the stories we tell about it. Please don't forget. Not everyone in that story had a happy ending.

Monday, November 19, 2012

I'm sure it's been done before but for my current WIP instead of writing a traditional outline I wrote a playlist. I've been wanting to do that for a long time but usually I have so many characters to manage that it gets hard to keep a playlist on track and even harder to follow it from plot point to plot point. Snow Roses turned out to be the perfect book for this kind of outline because:

1) It's written in *gasp* first person so I have a limited viewpoint for the songs (Meaning I can't say "This song works for the villain and this one works for the main character's little brother and this one works for the stable hand and . . . " it gets hard to focus on plot once that I start doing that)

2) It's a romance. Whatever the external events the main focus needs to be on inner emotions. Songs are good for outlining the progression of inner emotions.

I have a basic list of things that need to happen in the order they need to happen in too, of course, but I'm hoping the playlist will help me with the pacing. One chapter per song. No exceptions. (Well we'll see. Sticking to outlines has never been my strong point)

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Thick walls resist the flames of outward heat
While ashen coals wither to dust inside.
An empty tomb, void of human carcass,
Locked in the iron caress of silence.
A tuneless dirge rots to a molten beat.
White-hot screams and fire wrenched joys subside.
A mound of flesh lurches with lifelessness,
Blind to the flicker of unmet brilliance.
Terror holds sunlight safe in the darkest deep,
Hidden from noise, robbed of the cause to weep.

Mantra

Sun shimmers in a gentle, blinding scorch.
I lay my soul bare against the earth's core,
Extracting strength from the coils of life.
I reach for the vast distance of the stars,
Holding my being as an inner torch.
Joys and sorrows ebb against my heart's shore.
As I release relentless strains of strife.
My song is your song, pock-riddled with scars.
Renewed with wisdom, embalmed for death,
I embrace the forever flow of breath.

Resilience

Brittle bones shook at the threat of your bite
Hollow heart screeched with fear of the wild
Sallow skin faded, fondled and caressed
By finger-soft fetters made from your dust.

Water hardens in wake of winter's night.
A giant grows in place of ghost child,
Stretched taunt inside the height of her proudest
Death and fueled with fumes of molded lust.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Chattering about my current WIP? Forcing fellow bloggers to tell me about theirs? Sounds like fun to me! Thank you Erin Kane Spock for the tag!

What is your working title of your book?
Snow Roses. It's a darker take on the fairy tale Snow White and Rose Red. In this version they aren't sisters and I'm integrating elements from the Grimm Brothers' other Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Little Red Riding Hood into it.

Where did the idea come from for the book?
I've had the story of Snow White and Rose Red in the back of my mind for awhile. I thought maybe the characters would show up in a version of Kate Crackernut or Jack the Giant Killer that I'd been toying with if I ever got around to starting them. Then one night I was discussing fairy tales with my mom and sister and . . . the pieces just starting spinning together. Two girls hiding together in a haunted wood. The secrets they discover about their past and future and how each thread connects to the others. I had to start writing it all down.

What genre does your book fall under?
Young Adult Fantasy Romance --which surprised me, given the current popularity of that genre. I'm not usually a trend follower.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Snow would be Christina Ricci

and Rose would be Rose Byrne

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
I haven't polished one yet but I suppose now is as good a time as any to start working on one. Let's see . . . Snow and Rose find comfort, cocooned together in the darkness of a haunted wood, but the witch Lucille has never stopped hunting for either of them.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Who knows but I will certainly shoot for an agency.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I'm only a couple chapters in. I started in July then took a break to edit my other manuscript. So far I've done more pre-writing than actual drafting.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Maybe Juliette Marillier's Heart's Blood? I won't know for sure until I'm finished.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
When I was six years old I checked out a version of Cinderella from the library in which the stepsisters cut off parts of their feet so that they could fit into Cinderella's slipper. The prince recognized them as imposters when he saw blood dripping onto the ground. At six this disturbed me but it was also more interesting than the Disney version with the cute little mice and clearly defined villains. Since then I've read a lot of fairy tales. The older, darker versions have always resonated with me more strongly and I've wanted to explore a retelling of my own for quite some time.

***Use this format for your post
***Answer the ten questions about your current WIP (work in progress)
***Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them.

Ten Interview Questions for the Next Big Thing:
What is your working title of your book?
Where did the idea come from for the book?
What genre does your book fall under?
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Include the link of who tagged you and this explanation for the people you have tagged.